The schools will still be able to charge tuition to the school districts, however, if the state does not fully fund the grant. Under the new proposal, the state will pay the vo-ag or the magnet school through a grant, taking the burden off the municipalities. The bill changes the mechanism for funding vo-ag and some magnet schools, which are currently funded when a child’s home district pays tuition to the school he or she attends.
It will also provide charter and regional magnet schools more money for low-income children and English language learners. The bill increases state funding overall for charter schools, magnet schools and vocational agriculture, or vo-ag, schools, including a cost of living adjustment built into the grant for charter and some magnet schools. An amendment to the bill would require a study on the impact of school funding on rural school districts in particular. The legislation would also commission a study on the funding formulas and on retention of teachers and staff in schools. “What better way to demonstrate this – that you care about children, that you care about our communities - than to fully and equitably invest in education, and do it right now.”Īccording to the Office of Fiscal Analysis, 164 of the state’s 169 public school districts would receive an increase in state grants in 2025 under the proposed bill. “I call on each of our legislators to respond to the urgency of this hour and to be transformed non-conformists,” said Bishop Daniel Bland of Mt. “It is useless to talk about economic development unless we economically and strategically fund our students and their learning in such a way that it impacts them regardless of where they live in the state,” said Ruffin.įaith leaders under the umbrella of FaithActs for Education, a nonprofit made up of over 80 churches that advocate for public education funding, also spoke in favor of the legislation. Waterbury superintendent Verna Ruffin said that knowing the funding will be there allows the districts to plan beyond the remaining 18 months that the coronavirus relief dollars will be available. This is the work of year after year after year after year,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. Yet the work of helping kids recover and reconnect and heal and get back on track and achieve everything they are capable of doing is not going to be done in a couple of semesters. “About 18 months from now, those resources will go away.
Proponents added that having the additional funding begin in 2025 would ease the anticipated loss of funding when the federal coronavirus relief funds expire in 2024. The proposed bill would fast-track the funding formula so that poorer districts would receive their 2030 funding levels beginning in 2025, while continuing the gradual phase-out for wealthier districts scheduled to lose state funds. Under current law, the state is scheduled to increase funding for lower-income districts and decrease funding for wealthier districts over a period of ten years, reaching “full funding” of the districts in the year 2030. What more important thing can you put dollars in or funding than children?” he said. They are the future of our state and our country. We’re talking about educating our children. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, co-chair of the Education Committee, said this was something the legislature had been discussing for years.
“The generational privileges that there are in Farmington, along with the multitude of AP classes to beef up transcripts makes them much more equipped to look appealing to selective colleges, and to have a huge advantage over someone from a low-income community such as Waterbury,” said James.Īt a press conference on Tuesday, advocates and legislators gathered in support of a bill that will increase funding for public schools across the state - a decision that supporters say will help address the existing racial and socioeconomic divides in the education system. She said that in her former school, students regularly dropped out, while 99 percent of students at Farmington High School graduated last year. Her current high school in Farmington offered 24 Advanced Placement Courses, in comparison to the three offered in Waterbury. Daniela James, a senior at Farmington High School, said she saw stark differences between the opportunities afforded her in Farmington compared to her former school, Waterbury Arts Magnet School.
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